Motor vehicle manufacturers are necessarily concerned with saving space and reducing weight when designing and fabricating a recreational vehicle (“RV”). Maintaining designed operating conditions and performance levels are also important. When designing and constructing a water heater for an RV, these considerations present a challenge. A water heater in an RV typically holds no more than about 10 gallons in order to conserve space and weight. The output temperature of the water heater is typically controlled to be no higher than approximately 130° F. to prevent scalding by users at the fixtures located in the RV. To produce more hot water for the users of the RV, it has been known to increase the size of the water heater tank to approximately 12 gallons. Although a larger tank provides a greater amount of heated water, it creates both space and weight issues as compared to the typical 10 gallon water heater tank.
There is also a need for users to winterize their RV in cold climates. Users often add a bypass kit that enables the introduction of antifreeze into the RV water distribution system without the need to supply the tank itself with antifreeze.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a water heater for an RV with an increased heated water output, while reducing or overcoming some or all of the difficulties inherent in prior known devices. Particular objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, those who are knowledgeable or experienced in this field of technology, in view of the following disclosure of the invention and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments.